Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has blasted the President Bola Tinubu-led administration over the increasing poverty and acute hunger in Nigeria.
As Nigeria joined other countries of the world on Wednesday to mark this year’s World Food Day, Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, in his message said that the situation in Nigeria has become so terrible that hunger has now become a member of Nigerians’ households.
Obi said that Nigeria’s current struggle with food crisis and hunger is saddening, considering the richly blessed and vast arable lands with which the country is endowed as a nation.
Lamenting the soaring prices of food items in the country, Obi said that in the past, he used to lament that the majority of Nigerian households spent most of their income on food alone, sparing none for savings and other critical exigencies but it is heartbreaking to note that most Nigerian households are currently no longer able to afford sustenance food with their income.
He said, “Today, the world marks World Food Day, a very significant global event that raises awareness about the issues of hunger and food insecurity and serves as a reminder of the need to commit to food security and fight hunger to a standstill.
“This global observance is particularly important to us in Nigeria, where food prices are skyrocketing every day, and basic food items are becoming unaffordable to most people.
“Severe hunger has now become an unfortunate member of many households in Nigeria – the once giant of Africa, a nation that has the most arable land in the continent.
“Nigeria’s struggle with a food crisis and hunger today is saddening, considering the richly blessed and vast arable lands with which we are endowed as a nation.
“In the past, I used to lament that the majority of Nigerian households spent most of their income on food alone, sparing none for savings and other critical exigencies.
“Today, it is heartbreaking to note that most Nigerian households are no longer able to afford sustenance food with their income.
“Food prices are soaring , food inflation is skyrocketing, the food crisis is worsening by the day, and hunger has graduated to a national crisis.”
Obi further said, “In a Food Security Update Report released last week, the World Bank likened Nigeria’s worsening food security crisis to war torn countries like Yemen, noting that we have a significant rise in the number of people facing acute food shortages and an epidemic of hunger.
“Today, the Global Hunger Index ranks Nigeria among the 20 most hungry nations in the world. In August 2024, it was reported that more than 31.8 million Nigerians were acutely short of food due to security challenges and the removal of fuel subsidies.
“It was also reported that 15.6 million children in Nigeria were facing hunger.”
According to him, “The United Nations predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 percent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030 if the government fails to tackle the menace of food insecurity.
“The domestic food inflation in Nigeria remains among the highest globally, with food prices increasing by 37.5% year-on-year as of August 2024.
“I believe these reports, sad as they are, only paint a lenient picture of the severity of the food crisis and hunger in reality.
“Over the years, I have maintained that moving the country from consumption to production remains the surest way of combating food insecurity and pulling the nation out of the present food crisis.
“I have equally stated, unequivocally, that the greatest asset our nation has is the vast uncultivated lands in the North coupled with our huge demographics.
“Therefore, We must be intentional with our agricultural investments.
“A state like Niger State, which is twice bigger in land mass than the Netherlands (excluding water) can neither feed itself nor feed the nation, while the Netherlands exports over $100 billion worth of agro products annually.”
Obi stressed, “If we can prioritise investment in agriculture by combating insecurity which has kept farmers away from the farms, and adopting modern ways of mechanised farming, we will be able to combat hunger and achieve food security for the nation.
“A nation booming in productivity, free from hunger, with an abundant food supply remains our commitment to a new more prosperous Nigeria. It is possible!”